Starbucks files patents in Russia to try to safeguard its trademarks, 2 years after leaving the country

• Starbucks filed eight new trademark applications in Russia, according to reports.
• The company exited Russia in 2022 after it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 
• The move has fueled speculation, but it could simply be a strategy to safeguard expiring patents.

Starbucks has filed multiple trademark patents in Russia in an apparent attempt to protect its brand there, according to reports.

The coffee chain submitted eight new trademark applications on Russia's federal intellectual property service, Russian business news outlet Vedomosti reported.

These include a trademark on the company name itself, along with trademarks on the word Frappuccinos, its loyalty program, its instant coffee, and others related to the preparation of food and drinks, the Kyiv Post reported, citing Vedomosti.

The move has sparked speculation that the company may be considering re-entering the market, which it left following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

However, it could simply be about protecting its global brand.

A spokesperson for Starbucks told Business Insider that the company "routinely files trademark applications around the world to protect its brand."

The Kyiv Post reported that several of Starbucks' patent protections in Russia are due to expire next year. In April, the Russian businesses that bought out the coffee chain's sites filed a lawsuit to terminate Starbucks' trademark, it said.

Along with other major international brands, Starbucks announced its intention to divest from the Russian market in March 2022, ultimately shutting 130 stores after Russian forces began their full-scale invasion.

"We condemn the unprovoked, unjust and horrific attacks on Ukraine by Russia," then-CEO Kevin Johnson said in a company update at the time.

By May 2022, the company said it would pull out of the country entirely — a move that opened the floodgates to local imitators calling themselves things like "Starducks" and "Stars Coffee."

The situation shows the difficulties for global brands when it comes to divesting from major markets.

The choice poses both ethical and operational headaches, and can open the brand up to a host of imitators, as Business Insider's Huileng Tan reported.

By August 2022, Starbucks' former locations had been bought up by Russian entrepreneur Anton Pinskiy, rapper Timur Yunusov, and retail property company Sindika Company. The stores reopened as "Stars Coffee."

Starbucks is not the only company affected by Russian copycats: Soon after the invasion of Ukraine, trademark applications were also filed for "Makdonalds," while the "Uncle Vanya" burger brand clearly aped the McDonald's golden arches logo.